Inside October 2008

Features

BY Ryan C. Christiansen / Photos by Matt HagenIn the Pacific Northwest, a cooperative effort among environmentalists, dairy farmers and local Indian tribes to produce renewable energy is proving that we can all just get along. READ MORE

BY Kris BevillSeeds will play a vital role in the advancement of the crops needed to produce second-generation biofuels. Biomass Magazine talks to Ceres Inc., a seed plant genomics firm, about the switchgrass seed it is offering for the 2009 planting season. READ MORE

BY Anna AustinAs would be expected, the 140,000 U.S. troops stationed overseas generate a lot of trash. To help bases dispose of that trash, scientists from Purdue University teamed up with the U.S. Army to develop a generator that runs on packaging and food waste and produces fuel and power. READ MORE

BY Bryan SimsManoj Sinha's dream of providing power to areas of his native India where limited or no electricity is available has become a reality. He and his partners started Husk Power Systems to develop a process to convert rice husks into electricity to supply impoverished rural Indian villages. READ MORE

BY Jessica EbertCalifornia researchers and technology developers are commercializing a process that treats solid organic wastes such as grass clippings, food scraps, food processing byproducts, crop residues and animal wastes, and converts the materials into biogas that can be used to generate electricity, heat and transportation fuel. READ MORE

BY Ron KotrbaAn extraordinary amount of plastic occupies landfill space worldwide. Like a time capsule this could tell future generations an awful lot about us. Work by a few creative and resourceful people may change the message we choose to leave. READ MORE

BY Petru SangeorzanEuropean companies that burn biomass have been managing emissions for decades. Now a common device-the electrostatic precipitator-is increasingly being used in North American biomass processing. READ MORE